Two Converging Cases Tear At Divisions in Los Angeles

By SETH MYDANS,

Published: August 2, 1993

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 1—
Two racially charged trials intersect here this week: a Federal judge is scheduled to sentence two white police officers convicted in the beating of a black motorist, Rodney G. King, and a state judge is to begin interviewing prospective jurors in the case of two black men charged with beating a white truck driver in last year's riots.

The two cases, offering legal and emotional counterpoints in black and white, have come to symbolize the divisions and resentments that have kept Los Angeles on edge since the city flared into violence 15 months ago.

Some blacks in the South-Central area, the flash point of the riots, are pointing again to perceived racial inequities in the courts and reviving the slogan "No justice, no peace." But in much of the rest of Los Angeles, many people are turning away from the continuing problems of the inner city, simply hoping for peace.

One prospective juror in the state case, asked whether a three-month trial would be a hardship, answered: "Does hardship include personal prejudice? I'm sick and tired of crime. I watch the news every night, and it would be difficult for me to be neutral." Little Sentencing Discretion

In the Federal case, most people in the city agree that a measure of justice has been served. Sgt. Stacey C. Koon and Officer Laurence M. Powell were convicted in April of depriving Mr. King of his civil rights in a videotaped beating that followed a traffic stop in March 1991. Legal experts say Federal guidelines make it all but certain that on Wednesday Judge John G. Davies of Federal District Court will sentence both to a substantial portion of the maximum term of 10 years.

The two other defendants, Officer Theodore J. Briseno and former Officer Timothy E. Wind, were acquitted in the Federal trial. All four officers had been acquitted of assault charges in a state trial one year earlier, touching off the rioting that took more than 50 lives and cost the city nearly $1 billion.

Prosecutors say it was on the day of that acquittal, April 29, 1992, that Damian Williams, 20, and Keith Watson, 28, beat Reginald O. Denny, a truck driver. The incident was filmed by a television news team and by amateurs with video cameras. Highly Charged Atmosphere

Within the next few days, the police arrested four men in the beating, including Mr. Williams and Mr. Watson, and charged them with attempted murder, torture, aggravated mayhem, assault and other crimes. They have been held ever since on bails ranging up to $580,000 for Mr. Williams, and three face possible life terms in prison. Two have had their cases severed from the others and face separate proceedings. Another three men have since been arrested in the beating.

In the highly charged atmosphere that followed the riots, the original four defendants became symbols of what their supporters, mostly in South-Central Los Angeles, saw as an unjust judicial system that had freed four white officers in one beating and heaped heavy charges and high bail on four young black men in another.

The black men were dubbed the L.A. Four, and despite the brutality shown on the videotapes, they have become heroic symbols of oppression to some people. Many young black men see in them the representation of their own rough treatment at the hands of the police and the courts.

Legal experts argue that the two cases are not mirror images, since the officers were authorized by law to use force on an arrested suspect, as long as it was not excessive. No Mood for Subtleties

But Peter Arenella, a law professor at the University of California at Los Angeles, said: "The legal distinctions do not make much difference to a community that accurately perceives the racism all around them. If the officers are given maybe a year in jail and the Denny defendants get 20 or 30 years, that discrepancy itself is going to trigger a great deal of anger."

This is just what Michael Mason, a 21-year-old South-Central resident who has had brushes with the law, said could lead to trouble. "I don't see any difference between the L.A. Four and the L.A.P.D.," Mr. Mason, a student at Los Angeles Community College, said last week. "I feel like they are singling out these guys for what was going on, like I guess they are going to be the example of the riot."

But he said there was little likelihood of more rioting, if only because the police are now so much better prepared. "Everybody knows that if there is some type of riot there will be bloodshed," Mr. Mason said.

Legally, Mr. Arenella said, the case of the beating of Mr. Denny is so straightforward that it would normally have been resolved by plea bargains long ago. "But given the political symbolism attached to it, it might make it impossible for both sides to avoid a trial," he said. Bloody Video Montage

Deputy District Attorney Janet Moore, told reporters: "The community needs to hear this evidence. They need to see the facts in the case. We want to show the community they can have fairness in the judicial process."

Mr. Williams and Mr. Watson are accused of attacking nearly a dozen people near the intersection of Florence and Normandie Avenues in the first hours of the rioting. The central piece of evidence against them is a 42-minute montage of videotapes that one defense lawyer has claimed is so bloody that it will inflame a jury.

Similar evidence has led three of the seven men arrested in the attacks to plead guilty or no contest.

Mr. Williams, an unemployed high school dropout who had played some semiprofessional football, is shown smashing a brick into the head of the already bloodied Mr. Denny, then dancing a jig of triumph.

According to the indictment, he had already assaulted six other people, including two firefighters, with stones, bottles, bricks and a stereo speaker and had sprayed black paint on the stomach and genitals of a Hispanic man. He faces one charge of attempted murder and one charge of aggravated mayhem, both involving Mr. Denny, six charges of assault with a deadly weapon and two charges of robbery. Variety of Felonies Charged

Mr. Watson is charged with one count of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of robbery.

The third defendant, Antoine Miller, will be tried separately on a charge of attempted murder, five counts of assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of robbery and other charges. He is shown on the tape dragging Mr. Denny from his truck but is not shown beating him.

The fourth of the original defendants, Gary Williams, is shown picking the pocket of the injured Mr. Denny. He has pleaded guilty to robbery.

In the final pending case, Lance Parker, 27, is accused of firing a shotgun at Mr. Denny's truck and at people in a gasoline station, and other felonies.

Lawyers for Mr. Williams and Mr. Watson have not conceded that the defendants are the men shown on the videotape, and they contend that the most serious charges require proof not only of the defendants' actions but of their states of mind. Victim Asks for Remorse

They say that there was no attempt to murder Mr. Denny but that the defendants were part of a wild, mindless mob. They also claim that Mr. Denny's injuries were not serious enough to warrant aggravated mayhem charges.

Mr. Denny, whose life was saved by a brain operation, has been under doctors' care since the attack. His lawyer, Johnnie L. Cochrane, says he suffered a fractured skull and "over 90 broken bones in his face."

In an interview this week on "CBS This Morning," Mr. Denny said he only hoped for some remorse from his attackers, "not necessarily a long time in jail; that is not what I wish to see happen." The generosity of his remark drew an outpouring of condemnation from callers to a radio talk show, who said remorse was not enough.